Protect Marriage, the official proponents of Prop 8, filed a killer legal response to the argument by gay marriage advocates that higher courts may not review Judge Walker's ruling, because ballot initiative proponents lack the standing to sue. A summary is here.

I love the quote from legal eagle Chuck Cooper's brief:

"[I]nitiative proponents have authority under state law to represent the State's interest in defending the validity of initiatives; in doing so, official proponents act as agents of the People, to whom this interest ultimately belongs," according to the brief authored by Cooper, a lawyer for ProtectMarriage.com.

Those opposed to the gay marriage ban had argued in a brief earlier this month that ProtectMarriage is out of luck because it lacks authority under the California Constitution to take up a fight that the governor and state attorney general have abandoned.

Cooper countered Tuesday that the authority exists in state precedent. "[T]he California courts have repeatedly allowed official proponents to vindicate the People's interest in defending initiatives when elected officials will not," according to the 40-page argument, supplemented by 12 additional pages.